


Undisguised

by Katherine737



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Amnesia, F/F, Fluff, swanqueenweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-10
Updated: 2014-06-10
Packaged: 2018-02-04 01:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1762193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katherine737/pseuds/Katherine737
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for Swanqueenweek Day Three: Amnesia<br/>This story explores what the attraction between Regina and Emma could be like without all their complicated history. Due to an accident on the town barrier, everyone loses their memories and chaos ensues. While they are working together to get everyone's memories back, some clues lead Emma and Regina to suspect that they might be a couple...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Undisguised

**Author's Note:**

> This is set sometime after Emma returned from the Enchanted Forest but before Rumple forced her to go to New York with him. Emma and Regina have become friendly-ish, meaning they have started to try and work together instead of against each other.  
> Thanks to Swanqueenweek for the inspiration and organisation of this beautiful madness!

Nova was happy to finally have her wings back. Magic in Storybrooke worked differently but flying through the air was pure magic. She loved it when the town underneath her became tiny, only consisting of pale blotches in the light of dawn.

Today she was on her way toward the town line, on a hill in the forest. Regina had decided that it was the best point to start manipulating the memory aspect of the town line because of some magical glitch in the casting barrier that Nova couldn't even begin to understand.

Blue allowed the Queen and the Princess to try, although the fairy hadn’t bowed down to help herself. Tink had persuaded her to give them a bag of fairy dust.

Since Blue had only consented grudgingly, she had send Nova.

Probably because she hoped Nova would lose half of her load before she reached them.

It was unfair. Nova was clumsy, but up in the air she was as elegant as every fairy. Flying, she felt like a dancer.

It didn't matter that she had first flown in the wrong direction and was late.

Regina and Emma stood at the town line, a light sheen of energy already flickering between their raised hands.

Nova smiled. After the town line she wouldn't be able to fly, but Dreamy and her could go and see the world on their own and they wouldn't return until they'd seen it all.

The hanging gardens in Italy, pyramids in Egypt, the Chinese wall, the impressively huge temples in India, deserts, mountains, snow, heat, the see...

They were going to see it all.

Excited, Nova accelerated her descent, keeping her eyes on the little group next to the town line. Snow and David stood next to each other, Snow frowning at her daughter, while Ruby stood sentry a bit away.

Nova chuckled as her feet hit the ground. Surprised by her speed she ran a couple of steps, quickly tumbling. She watched in horror as the bag in her hands became airborne. The fairy dust filtered out, falling against the barrier, into the light fissure, into the magic Emma and Regina were conjuring. Everyone stopped in their movements and shivered as the town line visibly lit up.

Panicked, Nova turned and hastened away, flying, her fright so sheer that she ran even after the surge of magic had reached her, she fled, even as she lost all thought of why she dit it or how she was able to fly. 

 

* * *

 

She blinked, confused, and hurried away from the shining energy in front of her.

What the hell?

Her hands felt strangely warm and and tingling. She had no idea what she had done for them to feel that way.

She had no idea where she was.

She had no idea who she was.

Weirdly enough, she knew what she looked like, just like she knew how to speak, how to walk.

Wide-eyed she turned to see a group of people watching her as she scrambled away from the energy shield. Panicked, she shrank away even further, her foot got caught by a root in the damp earth and she stumbled.

A hand grabbed her shoulder and helped her to stand again. She turned to see dark eyes regarding her curiously.

„Careful, or you might break something.“

She smiled sheepishly, unsure, and pushed bright blonde hair out of her own face, her eyes still locked with the woman that saved her from tumbling to the ground. She had smooth dark hair, a smirk around red lips, a scar on one side of the upper lip, impeccable make-up matching with the business suit she was wearing. Her dark eyes were still on her, scrutinizing her with unveiled interest.

„What have you done?!“

The loud screech made them flinch and pull apart.

She turned to see a woman with a black pixie cut advancing on them, a confused looking guy with short blonde hair trailing behind her.

Folding her arms over her chest, she moved in front of the woman who had helped her.

“The real question is what did you do!“

Because she knew, that those who accused others were most likely to blame.

„Nothing! Someone stole my memories! And you were pouring some weird energy in that thing!“

„Weird energy? Listen, lady. I don't know what kind of weird barrier this is but I do know no person can put 'energy' inside it from their bare hands. That would be...“

„Magic?“

Her savior purred and she turned back to her, confused by the raised eyebrow.

„Stupid!“ she finished her sentence, fervently. Magic was stupid. But the dark-eyed woman only smiled, so she frowned at her.

„Do you know something?“

She nodded.

„I know a lot of things. I know I can use this energy, if you want to call it magic or not.“

And she did. She turned her hand and a little fireball appeared.

„Sorcery!“, the woman with the pixie cut accused, striding toward them.

She didn't know whether to attack the crazy woman or stop her, at least the she didn't have any visible weapons and she obviously abhorred the… weird energy thingy. Still, it might be helpful to stop whatever what was going on with both of the other women looking kinda furious.

Curiously, she turned her own hand, but no fire appeared by whatever power the other woman had used..

„Stop it!“

Suddenly another woman was standing between them, her hands thrust out to stop the two dark-haired women, long dark hair with a red streak blowing in the wind.

„Take a breath and listen!“

Silent they all regarded the new woman with caution. She sighed and moved her head to blow a strand of long dark hair out of her face.

„We are all confused. I have no idea what's going on, but I'd wager none of us know who they are either. Am I right?“

At first they just stared at her.

Then the blonde guy nodded in agreement, the others did too, and she smiled, uncertainly, nodding herself.

Only her savior with the immaculate clothing was left. When all of them fixed their eyes at her in suspicion she raised her arms in an exasperated gesture.

„Alright, I have no memory as well. And don't start accusing me because of my magic. I don't think I'd be able to do that.“

„Well, you certainly seem able to,“ the woman with the pixie cut replied angrily. She, herself, just sighed, looking for a purse in her pockets, noticing for the first time that there was a gun strapped to her belt. She was relieved to see a badge on her other side, and found a small wallet in her pocket.

„Hey guys, since we all have no idea who we are, what about finding out...“

She put up her fist in triumph.

„Yes! I have an ID. My name is Emma Swan and I'm from Boston. What about you guys?“

It turned out only the beautiful woman had an ID on her. She produced it from a small black purse that hung across her shoulder.

„Regina Mills.“

She, Emma, smiled.

„Nice to meet you.“

Regina looked sheepish but smiled back.

„Yeah, well. Nice to meet you, too.“

„Great, I don't have an ID!“, the pixie-haired woman complained. Emma turned around to give her a sympathetic smile when she noticed something glinting on her hand.

„Well, but you're wearing a wedding band.“

„Me, too“, the blonde guy spoke up, amazed. They turned to look at each other in awe.

„I bet we're married.“

Regina shrugged.

„Makes sense.“

„I have found you!“

The woman said and fell into her husbands arms.

Emma wrinkled her nose at the cheesiness..

The long-haired woman rolled her eyes, clearly agreeing, while she was still turning out her pockets, without success.

„Well, nevertheless, we need something to call you,“ Regina stated and the long-haired woman shrugged.

„Okay, well. I don't know.“

She tugged at her red leather jacket with one hand and a strand of red in her hair with the other.

Just call me Red?“

Emma shrugged in acceptance and the unnamed woman spoke up.

„Hm... I guess you can call me Margaret. No... Mary.“

She tilted her head and smiled.

„Yes, Mary Margaret that sounds right.“

„How innocent,“ Regina commented with a dark edge to her voice and Emma chuckled.

Mary Margaret didn't notice, she was too busy staring at her husband.

„What shall we call you?“

„Ehm, I don't know... I don't have any ID either, except that badge here.“

He had a matching one to Emma's.

„Hey, I have one of those too!“

She pointed at her belt, right next to her gun. Dangerous, since she had no idea how good she was using it. She remembered the mechanics good enough but she wasn’t stupid enough to think that that was all it took. Squinting at their badges, she realized something.

„I'm the Sheriff, you're my deputy.“

He grinned at her openly.

„We must be friends.“

Emma considered it for a moment. I didn't sound too wrong.

„We might.“

Regina sighed impatiently.

„Now that this family reunion is over, can we think about how to regain our memories?“

Emma pulled out the phone she felt in her other pocket.

„We could call the hospital?“

“Enlighten me, what can they do at the hospital to return magically lost memories?“

„You said you didn't do it!“

Mary Margaret accused and Regina rolled her eyes.

„I said, I don't know how. Emma and I both have magic and we both were standing at this magical border.“

Taking in her answer, Emma became curious.

„Can you tell what the border does?“

„No, unfortunately not. I can, however, see that it will be no use trying to get through.“

„Great,“ Emma sighed. She took up her phone.

„I should call up the hospital anyway. Check in whether everything's good there.“

Regina squinted at her.

„If you're from Boston, how did you became the town's Sheriff?“

Emma shook her head a little wistfully.

„I wish I knew.“

 

* * *

  
She called the hospital while they slowly made their way downhill, deciding that it'd be smarter to search out other people who might be able to tell them who they were, while Mary Margaret and Red were discussing what to call Mary Margaret’s husband.

Unfortunately, the nurse who answered the phone told her plainly that the entire town seemed to have lost their memories. She insisted that they still recalled medical facts, though, and therefore the hospital was safe. For now.

The call to the Sheriff's station went unanswered.

Emma hadn't expected anything else, but she had hoped...

She had barely shared this news with the others when they came across a kid sitting in the grass. He tried to hide behind a tree but they had already noticed him.

„Hey, kid!“

He scrambled away even further.

„I'm the Sheriff, kid. You don't have to be afraid!“

But when she moved closer he fell as he tried to run through the forest.

„Sheriff Swan, stop! Don't you realized that you're scaring him?!“

She was, wide-eyed proof in front of her. He had turned around at Regina's voice and looked at her now as she bowed down to him.

„Hello.“

He cleared his throat.

„Hi.“

„I'm Regina. Do you know who you are?“

He shook his head once, nervously tugging at his jacket’s sleeve.

„Don't worry, we don't have any memories either, dear. But we promise to keep you safe, if you come out of there.“

Slowly he came forwards. He had brown untidy hair, green eyes, and was wearing expensive clothes. Though they were just jeans and shirt, the quality was obvious.

„My jacket has the name Henry embroidered.“

And clearly he had the matching vocabulary.

„Henry, then. It's nice to meet you, young man.“

He beamed at that. Regina smiled back at him, all of her previous enmity gone.

„What were you doing here, Henry?“

Mary Margaret asked, in a honey-sweet voice. Emma completely understood when Henry eyed her warily.

„I was walking uphill with a book in my bag. It's about strange things. I fell when a blast of something hit me. There was...“

He broke off, but Regina urged him while she gently pushed his hair into order.

„Tell us.“

„It's...“

She smiled at him.

„Was it magic?“

His eyes grew wide.

„Yes,“ he breathed and Regina nodded.

„We know about magic. So you can tell us.“

„There was a woman“, he said, excitedly. „She was flying right over my head, she had silvery wings!“

„That sounds like a fairy,“ Mary Margaret proclaimed and everyone turned to her. She shrugged.

„I know something about fantasy and fairy tales. Maybe we live in a magical town.”

Henry just stared at her.

„Wow.“

„That's nonsense,“ Emma protested. There was only so much magical bullshit she could take.

„Is it?“

Regina mocked her with a raised eyebrow and turned her hand, producing a bottle filled with juice for the boy.

„Awesome“, he breathed as he took it, beaming up at her.

„Thank you, Regina.“

Satisfied, she nodded at him.

„You are a well-educated young man.“

„He has my chin,“ Mary-Margaret suddenly spoke up, coming nearer. She bowed down to him just like Regina but he eyed her in distrust.

„I'm Mary Margaret, Henry.“

He flinched when she placed a hand on his cheek although Mary Margaret didn’t seem to notice. She was still looking at him, her eyes slightly watery.

“And my eyes.”

Emma cleared her throat and stepped forward, allowing the boy to move away from Snow with a nod.

“I could say that he has my eyes as well. He might be your son, mine, Regina’s, or none of ours. We will protect him, but his parentage doesn’t matter right now.”

She met Regina’s eyes who nodded but Mary Margaret turned her mouth down in consternation.

“Regina’s? They don’t look alike at all.”

Shrugging, Emma simply pointed to the still nameless guy.

“He also doesn’t look much like your husband. But truth be told, Regina is the only one whose dress sense matches the kid’s.”

“I’m not a kid, I’m Henry!”

He insisted and she ruffled his hair.

“Of course you are. Should we go on now?”

“Mh..”

Regina hummed in approval. Just as they had started walking again, she asked Henry for his book. He gave it to her without a moment of hesitation. With her nose in the book, eyes scrunched up in a way that suggested that somewhere in that purse of hers were reading glasses, Regina kept walking through the muddy forest trail, her gait confident and even, no matter that her boots had at least three inches of heels.

For a moment Emma followed Regina’s legs up to her perfectly shaped behind. She swallowed and looked around nervously, hoping that no one had caught her staring.

Unfortunately Red was grinning at her.

 

* * *

 

After another call to the hospital and a fleeting visit to the sheriff’s station they went to the library. The idea was Regina’s and since she was the only one who seemed like she had a clue what was going on, Emma had agreed.

They had bought sandwiches with Regina's credit card before they went to the library and now it was almost time for dinner.

By now Emma almost regretted her decision to direct them to the library.

Regina had been cursing at the books for hours.

The librarian had been enthusiastic to help. The short brunette called herself Lys after some warrior woman in one of her favorite books (those she did remember). Emma and her had rummaged through the archives to find a decent map of the town.

Afterward Lys had been more help to use some weird system of magical routes to find hiding places for fairy dust. Regina and her had decided on some likely places and Mary Margaret and her husband had agreed to go look for them.

They had returned with two bags of the glinting dust at which Regina had smiled beautifully and Emma had told herself to stop looking at her.

That had turned out to be impossible because Regina had started to tell her how to move things with her mind until she had been able to pile up the books into orderly piles.

Regina had been convinced that they needed both of their magic to remedy the mess that had taken their memories. She had also been convinced that Emma needed practice.

However that had been like, two hours ago.

And now Emma was bored.

Everyone else had something to do. Red had gone to get them dinner.

Well, Henry had fallen asleep over a book, curled up in one big, comfy armchair, while Regina had insisted that Emma helped her look through the books Lys had dragged toward them.

Mary Margaret was walking with Lys through the library while her husband, James she was calling him now, sat in another armchair, holding the book he was supposed to look into, upside down, his eyes closed.

The letters in front of Emma started to blur, the outlines Regina had marked down on her notebook doubling.

The worst thing was that when Regina talked about magic her words made sense. Her logical mind told Emma that magic didn’t exist but she had seen it with her own eyes, she had moved things with her mind, and she could feel it swirling within her

There was no denying.

So she spent her time trying to deny her attraction toward Regina.

The other woman sat across from her, nibbling on her lower lip while she contemplated another of her drawn out theories, her pen hovering just above the notebook, ready to cross out another theory.

Somehow Regina seemed to be feeling her gaze. She looked up and their eyes locked. A half smile curled around Regina’s mouth, not at all perturbed that Emma had been staring. In fact, she seemed inviting Emma to just lean forward and claim that lips for her own, nibble on that scar and make that little half smile disappear in exchange for a breathless moan.

Regina’s eyes darkened like she knew exactly what Emma was thinking and Emma couldn’t find it in herself to feel embarrassed. Instead she was excited.

And then Henry stirred.

“Mom!”

He sounded scared, probably dreaming, and Emma was up and next to him before she fully realized that she had moved at all. Regina was right at her side, carefully stroking Henry’s hair out of his face.

“Henry, wake up, it’s only a dream. Henry!”

Her voice was gentle but intent and Henry’s eyes shot open.

“Mom?”

He leaned into Regina’s embrace without questioning the gesture. Emma was left to soothingly run her hand over his back. She met Regina’s eyes over the boy’s head and they smiled at each other.

“Well, that settles that,” Red commented dryly behind them. Emma flinched but Regina just sent a dirty look toward the woman, who meaningfully lifted the bags in her hands, disregarding Regina’s look entirely.

“No!”

Immediately Lys came to chase her outside.

“No food or beverages around the books!”

Red grinned and winked at Emma. Then she proceeded to invite Lys with a flirty smile before she called for Mary Margaret and James to have their dinner outside. At the sound of that Henry sat up.

“There’s food?”

Red nodded and Henry was halfway at the door when he turned around again.

“Are you guys coming too?”

“In a sec, Henry. I’m at a breakthrough,” Regina answered and Emma sat back down at across from Regina’s, knowing that Regina would want her to be her sounding board. Apparently, even while Emma was ‘slow’, she asked the right questions to find the loopholes in Regina’s theories. And there was exactly no loophole required for the magic to work.

“What do you mean Henry can’t be my son?” Mary Margaret was asking as Red ushered her outside.

“Henry just woke screaming for his mom. Regina and Emma reacted immediately while you kept mooning over that husband of yours.”

“I don’t moon over him!” Mary Margaret said but Emma chuckled, glad that Mary Margaret was out of hearing range.

“I have a feeling that’s all she ever does,” Regina muttered and Emma’s head snapped up, scrutinizing Regina closely. Regina looked up when Emma failed to chuckle at her comment.

“What?”

“You heard Red?”

“Of course I did. I’m not deaf.”

“Yeah, but I thought you were concentrating and…”

“I believe in multi-tasking. I can read and listen quite well at the same time.”

“Well, okay…”

When Emma looked down again to leave Regina to her notes and the three books she had spread out around her, Regina kept looking at her.

“Well, what?”

Taking a deep breath, Emma decided to be bold and ask.

“Well, what do you think about what Red insinuated?”

For a moment Regina just cocked her head and Emma thought she was going to play coy with her but then Regina smirked. She looked Emma over, clearly enjoying it when Emma avoided her gaze as she felt her neck heat up. Emma could feel that was blushing.

“Oh, I do believe I could enjoy Red’s insinuation quite thoroughly.”

Regina’s low raspy voice washed over Emma and she felt it reverberate deep within. Her mouth was suddenly dry and she was lost for words. Somehow it felt like that didn’t happen to her very often.

“I was talking about being Henry’s moms,” she said weakly and Regina gave her a knowing smirk, holding her gaze unabashedly.

“I know you were.”

Somehow Emma regained her courage and made herself smirk.

“I’m seeing a lot opportunities to enjoy myself as well.”

This time it was Regina who was stunned into silence. Clearly she hadn’t expected Emma to respond so directly.

Again it was Henry who broke their heated exchange.

“Regina? Emma? Are you coming?”

They went to have lunch with ‘their son’, Red, Lys and the yearning couple that somehow felt like family but also so much like disappointment that Emma could only think one of them was a sibling of hers.

Maybe they hadn’t liked that she was with Regina, that they had a son together.

In that case, she almost didn’t want her memories back.

On the other hand, she was almost certain that those memories might just contain Regina naked and that one she would very much like to see.

 

* * *

 

After their dinner James and Mary Margaret went to the Sheriff's station. Fortunately they had found two other people with badges who were helping them to keep the town calm.

It was weird how accepting most of the townsfolk were of their temporary amnesia. Most of them just had went about their day, working if they found out what their jobs were, trying to help anywhere else if they hadn’t figured out their jobs by their knowledge of things.

Emma was half of a mind to believe Mary Margaret’s statement that they were living in a magical town. What else was that barrier supposed to be?

Red had found her grandmother when she had bought their dinner at Granny’s. She had said something like ‘family knows each other’ and given Emma a meaningful look but while she had somehow known that Red hadn’t been lying Emma could have sworn that she was hiding something.

Maybe she just had magic like Regina and her did.

Or maybe Emma was going crazy.

Crazier.

It was crazy enough that she was currently sitting in the library making the books fly toward her out of boredom, letting them land in orderly stacks around her while Lys was giving her the stink-eye for ‘endangering’ the books.

Regina was sitting across from her, she had finally found the glasses in her purse and Emma had found out that she liked those glasses, like a whole lot. Every now and then the glasses would slide down Regina's nose and dark eyes would find Emma's over the rim and Emma would stop breathing. It was disconcerting how much Regina enjoyed making Emma blush.

Henry had a room at Granny’s. More people, who hadn’t found their ID’s were sleeping there, but Red had promised to have an eye on him.

They didn’t have time to check out Regina’s address yet. Regina insisted that it wasn’t necessary. She was almost done. She almost knew how to do it. Just one more second.

So Emma concentrated on making books hover above their heads because Regina had told her that both of them needed to be able to focus their magic.

Since apparently they had both used their magic at the shield, they both needed to repair it.

While Emma was ready to accept magic as a fact of their reality (the evidence was just too overwhelming) she was still struggling with the fact that apparently she and Regina had been responsible for this disaster.

Why else would they have been at the barrier, pouring their magic in?

Apparently they had made a mistake. A huge mistake.

So Emma wasn’t terribly excited when Regina whispered triumphantly.

“I have it!”

Instead she raised an eyebrow in doubt, exactly like she had done it the last two times. What if they made it worse?

“Are you sure?”

Regina simply pursed her lips, unamused.

“You’ve said that an hour ago,” Emma explained and gestured to the notepad on the table.

“Just explain to me how it should work and I’m happy to help.”

Regina knitted her eyebrows in doubt, she regarded the stacks of books Emma had assembled with a dubious expression on her face.

“Okay, but first we need to enhance your control.”

“But I can make them fly just as I want to!”, Emma whined and Regina chuckled deeply.

“Yes, you can do magic. Now we need to see if you can direct your energy.”

Confused, Emma scrunched up her forehead. She didn’t like how that sounded like belittling her efforts.

“Regina…”

Instead of letting her speak, Regina turned her hand to show Emma a little fireball flickering in her palm, its flame turning purple and white between one breath and the next.

“What are you…?”

“At first I thought about conjuring up a flame, then I directed it into conjuring pure energy. We’ll need that once we’re at the border to direct the fairy dust just right.”

“Oh, okay”, Emma sighed and turned her own hand to release some of her pure energy. She imagined flames and tried to feel something from within her but nothing happened. Well, the books closest to her wobbled a little but she didn’t know whether she was responsible for that.

She looked up at Regina, an apologetic smile on her lips, expecting Regina to roll her eyes and chastise her. Only Regina rolled her eyes with an amused smile on her lips and got up to move around the big table, sitting down next to her.

“Let me show you.”

She took Emma’s hands in her own, turning them together so that Emma’s open hands were laying on Regina’s palms. She gave her an encouraging smile and then Emma felt the energy being drawn out of her. The pull was frightening and exciting at the same time and she felt her hands shaking slightly.

“Concentrate,” Regina admonished her, her low voice so close it made Emma’s stomach flip. Immediately her energy reacted, releasing a swirl of whiteness out of their hands. It tingled, combined with purple and light silver, it was warm and promising, until Regina pulled her hands away, ending it.

She was still leaning into Emma, though, her eyes wide in something that spoke of awe and fear and…

“What was that?” Emma whispered, trying not to break the moment. Regina swallowed and licked her lips, apparently just as nervous as Emma herself. Then she smiled, her entire face lighting up in an enticingly beautiful smile.

“Magic,” she answered, her voice trembling over the single word and Emma noticed that Regina was just as breathless as herself, her dark eyes mustering Emma, lingering on her lips, her neck, and back to her eyes.

Excited, Emma moved forward, even closer into Regina’s space, smiled and took Regina’s hand back into her own.

“Show me again.”

Regina studied their entwined hands for a moment but then she gave an almost shy smile and Emma felt it again, the soft warmness, flowing through her body, sweet, and empowering.

A silver flame flickered over their hands and Emma grinned widely, giddy in success.

The magic, the power, made her bold.

She leaned in at the same time Regina did.

Regina smiled into the kiss and suddenly Emma felt a hand on her neck, pulling her closer. Her own hands moved to Regina’s cheek, caressing the soft skin there, and to her waist, drawing Regina even closer. Somehow Regina ended up in her lap, their mouths still moving together, lips slowly exploring, softly, caring, a tongue caressing a lower lip, drawing out a soft moan, their kiss moving from soft and familiar to passionate and frenzied.

Emma pulled away when it felt too much like home, too much like a promise she wasn’t sure she could give, too much like flying too high, knowing the inevitable fall would be crushing.

Still, Regina dipped her head again for another soft, lingering kiss.

She looked at Emma with hooded eyes and gave her an unguarded smile, whispering.

“This feels...”

Although Regina’s voice drifted off, the unspoken words were clear in the air.

Home.

I felt like home.

Emma took a sharp breath, the words cutting through her for reasons unknown. After a moment she found herself giving a shaky smile in return, despite the sudden tension.

Not yet finding her voice, Emma nodded toward the books on the table. She cleared her throat, trying and failing to find her bearings.

“Shall we…?”

Regina simply nodded. She stood up, gathered her notes and took Emma by the hand.

“I’m certain I know how to direct our magic.”

Chuckling, Emma followed her outside into the faint light of dawn. The pale light of the early sun was reflected in Regina’s hair, giving it a beautiful shine.

She was beautiful.

Emma almost said the words out loud.

Instead she pulled on Regina’s hand, drawing her into another kiss, one that was less shy and more open, reveling in the way it stole her breath, while making it feel like coming home at the same time.

It felt like she had never experienced something like that, like she had never felt so entirely in flames and at peace. It was maddeningly perfect and now that she had a taste of how that could feel she wasn’t sure she could let it go again.

Regina sighed into their kiss. When she pulled back she was smiling again, looking Emma over with an awe that seemed similar to what Emma felt. Then she shook her head.

“I’m not entirely sure we should be doing this...”

“Why?” Emma asked simply, implying that it was very well what they should be doing. That there was nothing else that they should be doing.

“Because…”

Regina made a desultory gesture toward her head. Emma knew what she meant. Their memories.

“What if we hate each other?”

Emma chuckled.

“I highly doubt that. We have a son, remember? For all we know, you’re my wife.”

But Regina knitted her eyebrows together, clearly bristling at the idea.

Suddenly insecure, Emma swallowed. For all they knew, Regina could have been married with Henry’s father until something had happened. It looked like Regina didn’t feel good at the word marriage. So Emma tried again, smiling to ease the tension.

“Girlfriend?”

“That’s just childish.”

“Lover, then?”

Suddenly Regina smiled cheekily.

“Well, you could be my lover.”

Emma laughed out loud.

“Of course!”

Figured that Regina was possessive. Still chuckling, Emma leaned in and placed a featherlight kiss on Regina’s cheek.

“I’ll be your lover, if you’ll be mine.”

Now it was Regina’s turn to chuckle. She rolled her eyebrows, but handed Emma the bags of fairy dust to carry before she linked their arms as they made their way back to the barrier.

 

* * *

 

All too soon they were ready, standing at the barrier, both with a bag of dust in their hands, both their hands warm with sparkling magic.

Regina gave Emma an encouraging smile and Emma nodded before she opened the bag and poured its contents into the shield, while simultaneously directing her magic to evenly distribute the fairy dust.

She felt Regina’s hand on her arm then, leading their magic to work its way through the complicated spell that was the town barrier, overriding the change that had only had been made yesterday.

Regina squeezed once, comfortingly, and Emma closed her eyes, allowing her energy to join Regina’s in reversing the spell.

Halfway through the process, the direction of Regina’s spell changed, Regina’s fingers clamped painfully on Emma’s arm and Emma knew that Regina was trying to repair the damage Nova had done. All at once she was herself again, remembering all too acutely the way they had spent the day.

Stupid fairy…

Emma swallowed, concentrating on keeping yesterday’s memories at bay, and forced her energy to support Regina’s.

She felt Regina succeed slowly, lifting the memory aspect of the town barrier, allowing everyone to leave at will, just like Rumple had wanted.

Their magic worked well together.

Afterward Emma kept staring straight ahead, examining the shimmering shield, stubbornly waiting for Regina to move.

But Regina’s hand was still on her arm and Emma was the first to turn her head to face the condemnation she was sure to get from Regina.

Instead Regina had her eyes closed, just as fiercely as her hand was gripping Emma’s arm. Emma felt her trembling from the effort and without thinking she moved her hand atop of Regina’s.

“Hey…,” she breathed in a voice that she hoped was soothing. Regina blinked once, twice, her face still like a stone mask before she lifted her head to look at Emma.

Somehow Emma saw her own fear reflected back at her, even through Regina’s incredibly high walls, and she saw the chance they had, she could still recall how right their kiss had felt. So she forced her lips into a shaky smile and her stomach flipped, feeling sick in sight of the anticipated rejection.

“So…”

She nervously cleared her throat, feeling Regina’s intent gaze on her, realizing that Regina still hadn’t twitched so much as a facial muscle. Emma grinned faintly, lightly squeezing the hand on her arm.

“Lover?”

Like she had expected Regina flinched, already swaying away from her. If Emma wasn’t still holding on to the hand on her arm, she was sure Regina would just turn and briskly walk away. She’d probably act like nothing had ever happened.

Just…

Emma didn’t think she could stand that.

So she swallowed and lifted her eyes to Regina’s unmoving gaze.

“Regina…”

Again words failed her.

What was she supposed to say? Give me a chance? Do you realize how good we feel together? Don’t you know that we can’t shove it back down now that the feelings are out there?

All of that and more sounded ridiculous, not befitting both of them one bit.

Her uncertainty made her hand loosen, allowing Regina pull away. Immediately Regina stepped back, cradling the newly freed hand in front of her chest, clearly trying to hide the trembling.

And yet there was a  little twitch on Regina’s mouth that made Emma wonder.

So she kept their eye contact and gave Regina a shaky smile.

“I don’t know what to say,” Emma admitted in a small voice. She didn’t know how to ask for a chance but she also didn’t want to let go of her without asking.

And then Regina was suddenly standing right in front of her, close enough for Emma to lean forward and just…

So Emma searched Regina’s eyes for affirmation, silently asking because she didn’t dare to plea aloud.

She watched Regina’s walls breaking, the stubborn curve of her mouth soften, the narrowed eyes growing wide, giving way to disbelief.

“You would…”

And Emma understood that Regina was struggling with the same issues as Emma. She understood, so she nodded.

“Yes. Of course. If you…?”

Regina closed the distance in an instant, pressing their lips together urgently, needy. Emma responded immediately, she clung to Regina, her hands trembling as she pulled on Regina, her hands on her back, feeling the curve of Regina’s shoulder blades, her waist, her sides, while Regina started nibbling on Emma’s lower lip, chuckling when Emma moaned.

It felt like the greatest high and Emma pressed herself closer to Regina when she noticed the other feeling, the one that made her hands shake.

She knew that this had the potential to break her in ways she couldn’t even imagine.

When their kiss broke she saw the same emotions reflected back in Regina’s face, dark beautiful eyes brimming with emotions.

Bravely Emma pushed through the fear.

“You know, I suck at relationships.”

But she’d try, because this? Feeling so right won’t be ignored.

After a moment Regina breathed out, moving her hand through dark, messy hair.

“You know I don’t have the best track record myself.”

Smiling, Emma moved closer again, relieved by the small smile that played across Regina’s lips.

“Would you like to go on a date with me, Mayor Mills?”

Regina gave her a curious glance but smiled, losing some of the tension.

“Why, Sheriff Swan, I thought you’d never ask...”

Emma grinned and kissed her again, losing herself in the embrace for what might have been a minute or an hour.

They made their way downhill the same way the walked up, their arms linked together, their hips brushing every once in a while, only their smiles went deeper now, full of promise and knowledge and, for once, hope.


End file.
